300 Years of Solitude
by Seersha
Summary: When Lois is accidentally sent 300 years into the future, she arrives alone into a strange world. There she meets a mysterious man who seems oddly familiar. Clark Kent has not seen Lois Lane for 300 years, but not even time can keep them apart.
1. Prologue

**300 Years of Solitude**

**Title:** 300 Years of Solitude

**Author:** Seersha

**Rating:** K

**Pairing:** Lois/Clark

**Spoilers:** Everything up to and including the season 8 finale "Doomsday".

**Distribution:** Please do not archive anywhere. It will be up at FF if you would like to link to it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters (obviously) and no copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this fanfiction.

**Timeline:** Veering off from the episode "Doomsday," the story is AU from there.

**Summary:** When Lois is accidentally sent 300 years into the future when she picks up the Legion ring in "Doomsday," she arrives alone into a strange world. There she meets a mysterious man who seems strangely familiar. So how is it possible that this man reminds her so much of another who couldn't possibly still be alive?

**Thanks:** to **drvr8** for the beta job and general awesomeness. This story wouldn't be the same without your valuable feedback and ideas, I REALLY appreciate all of the assistance :)

**Note:** I started writing this in May 2009, almost as soon as the season 8 finale aired. It is by far the most challenging story I've ever undertaken, it will span multiple chapters. My plan is to post a new installment weekly. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

.-.-.

**Prologue**

_**Metropolis: July, 2309**_

"Ow!" Lois screeched, stumbling awkwardly as a passing stranger did nothing to avoid bumping into her. Hard. She rubbed her sore elbow and glared at the man's retreating form. "'Excuse me' would have sufficed!" she called out angrily.

She froze as she took in her surroundings. The Daily Planet building was gone and she found herself on a noisy, crowded city sidewalk. People pushed past her, going about their normal routine as Lois stood in shock, gazing at her surroundings.

The city was completely foreign to her as she gazed up at the skyscrapers that seemed to stretch up into the clouds. The urge to suddenly become a bird and get an aerial view of this strange new Metropolis overwhelmed her. She wondered if she was still in Metropolis, Kansas, or even still on Earth. The buildings were similar to the ones she remembered, but instead of being constructed from steel and concrete, many seemed to be built entirely of glass.

The humming noises she had not really paid attention to, suddenly became clear as a group of vehicles went flying by her at breakneck speeds. They appeared almost like a car but the rate of speed at which they traveled seemed to mock any cars Lois knew of. She wondered fleetingly what it would be like to get behind the wheel of one of them as she felt her heart rate increase.

Lois shook her head, and gazed up at what looked to be a jumbo-sized plasma screen fixed on the side of one of the enormous buildings. Some sort of advertisement for a type of soft drink she'd never heard of danced across the screen. The video appeared almost holographic and three-dimensional, which made it seem like she could reach out and touch the people in the ad. The soda ad was followed by various other commercials for products she'd never heard of. A commercial of a family arguing about where they would go on their summer vacation was playing, and the father suggested his family, in a last ditch effort to maintain family unity, that they all go to the moon. Lois laughed out loud, wondering where the make believe family would really head on their vacation.

To her shock, the entire family agreed to go to the moon for their vacation and the plethora of activities little Billy and his sister Rita could partake in at the lunar resort flashed across the giant screen. Three-dimensional images of the moon and people playing in light looking space suits danced before her as the vacation package plans to take your entire family to the moon listed several rate options. Apparently, an eighteen hundred dollar package per person was practically an unheard of bargain and urged the viewer to act quickly before reservations were booked solid.

Lois rolled her eyes wondering what kind of alternate universe she was in where families embarked on space vacations. Surely she was on some ridiculous candid camera show and this was all an elaborate joke.

As she turned back to the screen she froze and her mouth opened wide in shock. She felt her legs weaken and her head start to spin as she tried to blink her eyes in an effort to remove the unanticipated numeral she was looking at. Lois felt herself losing her balance and falling abruptly as her gaze remained fixed on the lower right hand corner of the screen.

In bright white letters and numerals the date read July 8th, 2309. What the hell, Lois thought, as darkness enveloped her consciousness. A few passerby's stopped to avoid trampling the strangely dressed woman laying face first on the ground. Next to her head lay a ring with an L written on it.

.-.-.

_**Smallville: Three hundred years earlier (2009)**_

_"__Chloe, I've searched everywhere. There's no sign of Lois." _

_"I saw someone tacking her photo up on a missing person's report and I keep thinking that maybe... you know, maybe I haven't..." _

_"Lost everyone."_

_"__I always tried to forget I was an alien. Or a creature. I've always tried to pretend I was human. I was raised to believe it was my Kryptonian part that was dangerous, Chloe, but I was wrong. It's my human side. It... it's the side that gets attached, the side that makes decisions based from emotions. That's my enemy."_

_"So because of some psychopath, you're gonna cut the rest of us out of your life? Clark, human emotion is what made you the hero that you are today." _

_"They're what's stopping from being the hero I could be. It's what the world needs now." _

_"What are you saying?" _

_"Clark Kent is dead."_

Clark walked down the staircase slowly. The Daily Planet felt more like home these days than anywhere else. Or at least it had… until now. His last conversation with Chloe still haunted him.

She had tried to call him over a hundred times in the past few days and sent him at least a dozen emails, apparently desperate for Clark to listen. He ignored Chloe's pleas, trying to distance himself as much as possible, even though he knew it was hurting her. She didn't understand what he was going through and she never, ever really did. Only now did Clark truly see that.

Stopping for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, he surveyed the quiet basement. It was late and hardly any of the lights were on. The cleaners had long ago finished their nightly shift, and the long silence was strangely comforting. It was only the second time he had been able to bring himself to come here since Lois had disappeared.

This was their territory, their battle ground, where the two of them had waged a war on uncovering the truth together on more than one occasion. Lois Lane had surprised him more then once and she had shown just how dedicated and brilliant she was as a journalist in this room with him. Brilliant. Yes, that was a good word to describe Lois. Why hadn't he taken the time to tell her that he thought she was brilliant?

She would never even realize how big of an impact her story about his life was, and the accolades and acceptance he'd been fleetingly granted in large part to her brilliant writing. He felt overwhelmed again thinking about too many what if moments he'd let slip through his fingers when it came to Lois Lane. What if he hadn't turned back the hands of time and stayed to fight for the truth together with her? He had realized in that moment, watching her fight Linda Lake, saving him, saving the world, how much he did care for her.

Shaking his head sadly, Clark moved to her desk, resting his hands on the back of her chair as he stared down at the oddly neat desk. It hadn't been cleared out yet, even though Clark knew Tess wouldn't let it sit unoccupied forever.

Tess had been the last to see Lois briefly the night of her disappearance, but no one knew where she'd gone. According to Tess's statement to police, nothing unusual had transpired. There were a dozen theories on what had happened to Lois, but the fact was there really weren't any clues, so all anyone could do was guess.

The nagging fear in the back of his mind was that she had tried to make it to that phone booth to meet his alter ego and was now buried under several tons of rubble. Clark sucked in another breath and realized he was choking back a sob that wanted to escape. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm himself down so he could do what he needed to do today.

One thing Clark knew for sure was that the Legion ring was also gone. He'd passed through briefly after defeating Doomsday to get the ring only to discover it wasn't anywhere to be found. He had no idea if the missing ring had anything to do with Lois's disappearance, though he doubted it. For all he could guess, someone could have stolen the ring and pawned it thinking it was valuable. He hoped it hadn't ended up in the wrong hands, like someone as obsessed with greed as Linda Lake had been.

Swallowing, Clark pulled out her chair and sat down, slowly fingering a few of the items on her desk. This was the last place she had been, the final reminders of Lois Lane. He picked up a small torn piece of paper, where Lois had scribbled some notes down, then flipped through her notebook. Where these small remnants really the last pieces of Lois he would ever have?

Jimmy was dead. Lois was missing. The fortress was without power and Jor-El could not be consulted to guide Clark towards his next path of training. Chloe had terminated his plan to send Davis to the Phantom Zone. Tess had destroyed the crystal forcing the brutal confrontation with Doomsday. The Justice League had undermined Clark's plan of action, Oliver had shot him with his Kryptonite bolts all in the name of protecting him. His entire world seemed to have crashed down all around him. With a bitter sense of irony, Clark realized that Rokk's forewarning was proving true, as he had effectively died that day.

How had it come to this? Clark wondered. How had he become so isolated and alone? It was because he'd allowed himself to get emotional, get close to people, try and trick himself into believing he was really human. But he wasn't. He was an alien and it was time he accepted that. No more pretending to be normal or trying to have a normal life as well as be the hero everyone expected him to be. How could he ever become a hero if everyone thought he wasn't strong enough to stand by his own decisions? No one understood how much thought and care he had tried to put into stopping Davis without killing him.

Clark realized that trying to buy into Chloe's delusions of saving Davis had cost Jimmy his life. Davis was the killer just as much as the beast inside him was a killer. The beast had been filled with rage and hate just as surely as Davis had been filled with it as he had impaled Jimmy with his rusty pipe.

Well, from now on everything was going to be different.

Standing up, Clark picked up Lois's gold nameplate and ran his fingers over her name. He closed his eyes and set it back down on her desk and moved around to his desk. He picked up his own nameplate, letting his thoughts carry back to when he had revealed to her he would be her neighbor. He opened his desk draw to retrieve the framed page of Lois Lane's Rules of Reporting and further in the back of drawer was a second framed picture.

Clark hadn't shown Lois this picture frame. It was a picture Jimmy had taken of the two of them on his first day, Clark was covered in ash and dirt from the bus explosion and Lois had a smile on her face as she smudged some of the dirt on his nose. Clark stood, arms folded across his chest as he had been soundly teased after his impromptu meeting with their new boss. Clark's exasperated expression nearly hid the grin at the corner of his mouth barely peeking out, as he had to remember to act extremely annoyed with Lois and her merciless teasing. Although merciless teasing seemed to give Lois Lane free license to poke, touch and reveal in his embarrassment all day. Clark's eyes sparkled though in the frame and revealed the truth behind his façade as he gazed down at her.

He tucked all three items into his backpack. He would only take these three objects. They weren't much, but each held such great meaning for him of his time spent at the Daily Planet.

Finally, pulling out a plain envelope from his jacket pocket, Clark placed it into the outgoing mailbox on his desk with the label Tess Mercer clearly visible. Inside the envelope was his official resignation letter.

He didn't want to work there anymore. There was nothing left there at the office to bring him in. What good was the quest to uncover the truth when you had no one to share the truth with? He didn't want to be Clark Kent anymore. Clark Kent was dead, buried, gone. It was time to embrace his powers and do something useful with his life.

One goal, above all else, stood out in his mind as he looked back at her desk and her nameplate: He had to find Lois.

.-.-.

TBC


	2. Chapter One

**300 Years of Solitude**

.-.-.

**Chapter One**

_**Metropolis: July, 2309**_

The light was bright and white, stunning Lois as she tried to open her eyes. She felt as though she had pins and needles all over her skin, throughout her entire body. Her head felt even worse, far worse than any hangover she'd experienced. She could barely form the words, "What happened? Where am I?"

"It's all right," a voice said. "You're all right now."

Lois blinked, turning her head a little to try and focus somewhere away from the bright light that was blinding her. She squinted, trying to make out images or see where she was. Her vision was still blurry and she could only make out vague colors. However, everything seemed to be white, or varying shades of white, from the walls to the ceiling. Glancing down at the bed she lay on, she realised she was dressed in a plain white, flimsy gown but was otherwise naked. Around her left wrist was a plastic band with numbers and letters on it, although her head was starting to throb and she couldn't make heads or tails of the printed information. Great, I must be in a hospital, she decided.

A feeling of relief washed over her. It must've all just been a dream after all. Just some crazy dream or a hallucination of some sort, she happily thought to herself. The moon? Yeah right.

Forcing her body to move, she tried to push herself up from the bed, but felt weak and nauseous. She focused on the woman before her, someone she did not recognize. The woman had bright red hair and was wearing white scrubs, and a surgical mask covering her face. A nurse or a doctor Lois assumed. Doctors and nurses would have answers. "How'd I get here?" Lois asked again, louder this time.

Her question was ignored and a large hand pressed against her shoulder with force. Lois turned to see a dark man gazing solemnly at her, also dressed in plain white scrubs. "Let me up," she demanded, trying to move again. He pushed her down once more, firmly.

"Relax," the man said soothingly, "you're still weak, don't talk."

Lois closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head as if to clear it, then opened her eyes again. The light didn't seem as bright anymore. "Where are my friends?" she asked, her gaze flicking between the man and the woman. No doubt Chloe, Jimmy and Clark would be worried about her; they were probably waiting impatiently outside her room to make sure she was okay.

The man's face fell slightly and he glanced quickly at the other woman. A few moments of silence passed, and Lois began to worry. She glanced around the room, this time more carefully and it dawned on her that if she was in a hospital room, it was unlike one she'd ever seen.

The machinery was compact, smaller than the usual hospital equipment that usually littered her room when she found herself waking up in hospital beds too often in the past. There was another vividly lifelike screen in the corner right, flashing holographic images and data that seemed remarkably similar to the one she'd seen on the street. A mirror on the opposite wall reflected back a startling image: the bed she was laying on had no legs and didn't touch the ground. A simple metallic slab with a thin mattress on it, the bed was _floating_, suspended, in mid-air.

Could this be another mind trick? She was so ready for this bad dream to end. She closed her eyes tight and slowly opened them again. Crap, still the same scene. The seriousness of the situation started to sink in.

"Where am I? What year is it?" she asked, slowly, softly, afraid of the answer as she stared into the mirror.

"This must be confusing for you," the red-haired woman said, for the first time sounding sympathetic, as she pressed a cool hand gently against Lois's other shoulder. She'd taken off the mask and appeared to be close to Lois's age and was quite beautiful.

"Confusing would hardly begin to describe what I'm feeling," Lois stated flatly, sizing her up. She was taller than Lois, fit, and probably able to handle herself in a fight judging from her posture and graceful movement. Years of living with the General had bequeathed Lois with the ability to gauge most people's physical combat skills with a moments glance. Although fighting with the one person who could provide her with answers at this moment was probably not the best idea.

The red-haired woman seemed to force a smile on her face and asked, "Can you tell me your name?"

"Lane. Lois Lane. I work at the Daily Planet," Lois replied automatically, without thinking.

"That's what her records say," the man said with a nod before Lois could speak gain. "The DNA never lies."

"We should never have doubted the data," the woman affirmed, speaking directly to the man as if Lois was no longer in the room with them. "The other test results have also come back, all negative. She's not a clone. I will inform the others," the woman concluded and quickly left the room.

At the mention of the word clone, horror filled Lois. "What the hell is going on?" she demanded, her frantic gaze resting on the man, who finally eased his grip on her shoulder. Her muscles felt like jelly, but Lois tried again to get herself to sit up and succeeded partially. She wanted answers this instant.

The man stopped her again. "Miss Lane, you need to calm down and remain here for your own safety." He had hold of both of her shoulders, gripping her tightly in an effort to restrict her movements. He wasn't a particularly big man, and in any ordinary situation Lois was sure she could have kicked his ass. Why didn't she seem to even have the strength to sit?

Lois's flight instinct was kicking into high gear. She had to get out of here now. "Let me go!" Lois screeched, finally getting her arms to work a little and pushing back on his arms.

"Miss Lane, please control yourself!" he commanded loudly, struggling with her for a minute. "I understand that you must be distressed, but you are in safe hands, I assure you."

Still using every single drop of strength she could muster, Lois fought to try and free herself from his grip. "Get your hands off me. Now!" she demanded, screaming now. She was in a strange place, being held down by a strange man and as each moment passed, she felt only more desperate.

Hearing the ruckus, the red-haired woman came running back into the room, followed by two other men. The three men struggled to restrain Lois, while the woman moved swiftly to a metal cupboard in the corner and returned seconds later holding a syringe filled with light yellow liquid.

Lois eyes went wide as she looked at the needle descending towards her arm. She had no time to react and no time to scream or protest, wincing as she felt the sharp needle pierce her bicep as the liquid was injected. A sharp stinging coursed throughout her veins liquid started taking hold. An almost instantaneous numbness went through her body.

All the fight went out of her and she collapsed like a rag doll back onto the bed. "No. No." Her limbs felt paralysed, unable to follow any of her commands to jump up and run. "Why?" Lois asked, voice cracking. Her mouth felt dry. She could feel drowsiness creeping upon her slowly and knew in a matter of minutes she'd lose consciousness.

The men stepped away from her, remaining only silent witnesses; the woman stared down at her with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Lane," she said softly, "We aren't trying to hurt you." She paused. "You must understand, this is confusing for us all. We are only trying to help you. You—" she stopped momentarily, as if unsure if she should tell Lois the rest. Her intense green eyes were full of sympathy. "Miss Lane, you died three hundred years ago."

Lois blinked one more time, eyelids heavy. The white light seemed to fill her vision again. It wasn't a dream or a hallucination after all. It was real, it really was the year 2309… and… she was alone. With that depressing thought consuming her, Lois felt herself drift reluctantly into darkness once more.

.-.-.

"What are you doing here?"

Joseph Martin turned towards the sound. A beautiful, tall red-haired woman stood a few feet away near the reception counter, dressed in white scrubs. She'd just taken off her gloves and her arms were crossed firmly across her chest. She didn't look particularly happy to see him.

"Hello, Nicole, it's good to see you," he replied politely with a smile, as if she hadn't used such a sharp tone.

Nicole narrowed her eyes for a moment, then sighed heavily and let her arms loosen. His expression wasn't giving anything away. She often wished that he was easier to read and other times she was secretly intrigued. She had made it her life's work to solve the mysteries of science, but when it came to unravelling the mysteries of human people, she found herself woefully bored. That had been until she met Joseph Martin. He was unlike anyone she had ever known and had been an unyielding source of intrigue and mystery.

Perhaps it was her medical background or just her desire to help people, but she had at one time desperately wanted to fix the hole that seemed to be at the core of Joseph Martin.

She forced herself to relax and reminded herself that she was at work. This was _business_. "It's good to see you too, Joe," she said, meaning it. She hadn't been prepared to come face to face with this man again, but she couldn't deny that her stomach wasn't doing little flip-flops at the sight of him.

Joseph Martin was a handsome man, although it wasn't always immediately obvious. He was tall, and appeared slender at first glimpse but had proved to be deceptively muscular when stripped of all his clothes as she had discovered their first night together. He had long, jet-black hair that reached just below his shoulders that he nearly always wore tied in a loose ponytail.

Nicole didn't know any other man who wore their hair long; it was considered far too old fashioned and out of style. A thick dark moustache and beard covered the lower half of his face and in all the years Nicole had known him, he had absolutely refused to shave it. Asking Joe if he'd ever cut his hair was always met with a similarly firm refusal. If only he would clean himself up, he'd look like a different man. His most striking feature though was his turquoise eyes that reflected all shades of blue light. His intense eyes had drawn her in like a beacon the first time she saw him. What had surprised her most was the softness behind the intense gaze, almost like it had been locked away deep inside him.

His eyes, she thought wistfully, could capture any woman's heart. "You didn't answer my question," she pointed out, eyeing him.

"I'm here for a case; a woman was brought in yesterday afternoon." Joe looked down at his holo-display device and looked back up at Nicole. "I don't have many details, but I was told to talk to you."

Nicole nodded. "I guess I should have known you'd end up on this one," she lied as she looked down quickly. It had been over for a while but she still felt the connection whenever she was around him. She looked back up at him. "It's definitely the strangest case I've ever seen."

Reaching behind her, Nicole picked up the case file that lay on the countertop and indicated with a jerk of her head that they should start walking. The case file looked like a thick clipboard, but it was a touch-screen device that displayed all the information gathered and pertaining to a particular case.

"I almost forgot you work in the Missing Persons Department," she commented, hugging the case file to her chest as they walked side by side down the long hallway. She hadn't forgotten really, she'd been preparing herself mentally for his arrival since the call to his department had been made. He didn't have to know that though. So she had tried her best to sound indifferent, as if she didn't really care what he was up to these days. What did it matter to her?

"I don't. I work _with _them, not _for_ them." Joe pulled his free hand up and gently stroked his beard. She knew he always did that when he was anxious.

She laughed dryly. "I didn't know there was a difference." The awkward tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked troubled and he knew it was his presence that was troubling her, not the case. He stopped, sighing deeply. It took Nicole a few seconds to realise he wasn't following her and she stopped, startled, and turned to face him.

"I didn't know you were working on this case," Joe assured her, sincerely. "I would have asked someone else to take it if I'd known."

She shrugged. "Why should I be bothered, Joe?" She placed her hand on his and let it linger there for a moment before squeezing it. "You're the best the Department has and they know it; you _should_ be on this case."

He nodded mutely, debating whether to say anything further. Nicole Brant worked as one of the chief researchers at the Metropolis Medical Research Center and they'd known each other for almost three years, having met several times through work as their paths crossed.

When Nicole had asked him out one day, he had initially told her that he didn't date. When she'd asked him out the third time, he knew she wasn't going to give up asking. He had thought that perhaps it was time to start opening up again and told her yes. She had proven to be smart, funny, thoughtful and was extremely attractive and didn't seem to mind his more reserved nature.

He had always tried to avoid getting too close to people. He didn't mind getting friendly with someone and being polite, no one ever suspected that he had a very real and very thick line in his heart he didn't let anyone cross if he could help it. He'd even been involved with various women over the long span of years, but casual sex with no emotion had never satisfied any of his real cravings.

They had been together for almost four months before things had started to get "serious". Nicole had started talking about taking him to meet her parents, and possibly moving in together one day. He'd ignored most of those suggestions, choosing to give a standard shrug in response.

Then she had started asking those little hinting questions that women seemed to ask. What did he think about children? This worried him because she was actually picturing a future with the two of them. He had tried to tell himself that this was just a natural progression within a relationship. Bedsides, it was far too soon in the relationship to be starting to panic about things that would never happen.

The moment that changed everything, though, happened on a warm evening not long after. They'd finished having sex and he lay on his back feeling quite satisfied. Nicole had wriggled close in bed that night and whispered, "I love you, Joe," into his ear quietly.

Unable to reciprocate, he had frozen, wondering if it was too late to pretend to be asleep. No one had said those words to him or hinted that they loved him since… well… for a very long time.

Noticing him stiffen, Nicole had added hastily, "I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything back." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly. "I just wanted you to know."

But in the moments after her confession, Joe knew that his relationship with Nicole had gone way too far, way too fast. It wouldn't be fair to her. He couldn't risk letting real emotions back into his life. They were all too painful. He had already lost too many people he had loved. He knew then that he'd been careless and selfish, letting someone get too close to him again and he couldn't silence the alarm bells ringing in his head.

He had pulled back sharply, closed off emotionally, and essentially shut down. And she knew it, because he didn't bother to try and hide or pretend. It didn't take long for their relationship to crumble completely. He had never meant to let things get so out of hand, he hadn't meant to hurt her or lead her on. The idea of being alone forever wasn't an easy pill to swallow but the idea that he'd have to really give his heart to that person terrified him.

He was more sorry than he had words for that he had caused her pain, but he knew he couldn't give her what she wanted from him. Nicole had yelled, screamed, begged, cried, pleaded, and tried to even provoke him to physical anger in order to talk to her. But she had eventually accepted that he would not change his position.

There was still tension there and he doubted it would ever disappear completely. They might not have been able to make their romantic relationship work, but professionally they had remained in each other's highest regards. She had always been his biggest fan and had always requested him for cases she was working on. In all likelihood she had lied when she said she didn't know he'd be working her case.

It seemed like only yesterday when he'd finally ended their relationship, remembering the pain and hurt she revealed in her eyes in that moment. In reality it had been almost two years, but the scars were still there for both of them. He knew Nicole had dated other people but they never seemed to last. She hadn't moved on the way he hoped she would.

She'd called him emotionally unavailable and immature for not being able to take a chance on them. He had remained silent and stoic as he always did, unable to express what was in his heart. Perhaps, in her own heart, even after all this time, she couldn't let go. He knew the feeling all too well.

He straightened and ran his hand through his hair. "Tell me about the case then," he said, deciding to move the conversation along into less dangerous territory.

She blinked, severing her intense gaze momentarily and then let out an audible sigh. "Right," she said, looking down at the case file and giving the screen a few taps. "A woman was found on Eddy Avenue unconscious at approximately 3:40pm, she was fingerprinted for identity since there was no ID on her person." She stared back at Joe and he nodded. "However," she continued, "an anomaly was picked up by the reading though and she was transferred here so we could verify the result."

It didn't sound like a strange case so far. "What was the anomaly?"

Nicole looked straight at him. "Well, it's just not possible."

Joe narrowed his eyes. "A case of the strange and unexplained?"

Nicole nodded. "According to the fingerprint identification and DNA results, she died three hundred years ago." She held out the case file to him as if daring him to open Pandora's box. "She's back from the dead."

That was impossible, he thought, and silently reached for the case file. It had to be a mistake. He stared at the information flashing on the screen before him. A small photo of a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties was displayed on the top half of the screen, with the case ID number 22836471. The woman had her eyes closed and was asleep, her skin pale, so Joe summarized this was taken upon her arrival into the Medical Research Center.

Startlingly, the woman looked vaguely familiar. No, actually she looked eerily familiar to him. A ghost from the distant past, memories he'd buried long ago seemed to come rushing back. His eyes travelled past the photo, his stomach seemed to do back flips inside him and he held his breath as he read the text below.

Name: Lois Joanne Lane

Birthplace/date: West Germany; 26 March, 1984

Missing: 8 July, 2009

Declared Deceased: 14 January, 2010

Cause Of Death: Unknown

DNA Match: 100.00%

.-.-.

TBC


	3. Chapter Two

**300 Years of Solitude**

.-.-.

**Chapter Two**

_**Metropolis: July, 2309**_

Joe stood frozen, as if a statue, staring mutely at the screen in front of him. He held his breath as his mind raced furiously through a million possibilities and explanations.

It defied logic and reason. How? Why? When? The impossible was possible? Well, Joe was a walking contradiction of impossibilities. Joe Martin hadn't thought of his past for a long, long time now and he didn't really want to be thinking about it now.

Lois Lane was dead.

It had been an absolute in his life, she and everyone else that he knew three hundred years ago had died or been killed. It had been the one thing that had grounded him the past twenty-five years. It had been what had driven him to find some way to make a difference for those who were lost, with loved ones searching for them. And in one instant, everything he had believed to be absolute had been obliterated.

Yet, somehow, someway, Lois Lane was now somewhere in the same building he'd just walked into. Maybe this woman was a robot or a clone, he thought, or it could be a mistake.

It couldn't possibly be her. His mind felt stretched, pulled, twisted, in shambles as he tried to piece together some sort of logical explanation for this unexpected turn of events. Lois Lane had disappeared three hundred years ago. He'd watched her funeral and he'd stood at her graveside many times in the first few years following hear 'death'. He had searched the earth, scouredevery corner of the globe and hadn't found her. He'd been certain she was nowhere – _nowhere_ – to be found. And even if she had been alive, somewhere, she still would be dead by now. She was, after all, only human.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Nicole said, breaking through his thoughts.

"This is impossible. How—?" He stopped and took a breath. "Are you sure these results are correct?" he asked, never taking his eyes from the screen. Lois Lane. Missing. Deceased. The words swept through his mind as he tried desperately to process the information before him.

"The medical records from Metropolis General and the Smallville Medical Center were digitally catalogued in 2008 and we managed to get her fingerprint and DNA on old holo-file carts through the U.S. Amy National Archive." Nicole stopped and stared at Joe. His expression was unreadable but so intense. She continued, "The Missing Persons Unit at the time conducted a thorough search, it was a fairly high profile case, from what we could gather. To be honest, I didn't even know the Department kept records that old."

She stopped and looked again at Joe, watching his eyes scanning over the holo-files and reading the findings.

"You can see for yourself. We've run every test there is and they're all conclusive of the fact that this woman is indeed Lois Lane. Don't ask me to explain it, Joe, because I don't have the answers yet." She paused. "That's why you're here, right?"

Joe finally looked up and nodded slightly. He was here to help find answers, and yet those answers were ones he did not want to know, did not want to hear.

Everyone who knew him called him Joe, or Joseph. All of his ID cards and documents declared to the world that his name was Joseph Henry Martin. He was thirty years old and he was born on 21st October, 2279. Most people thought he looked extremely young for his age, and he supposed he could probably pass for twenty-seven if he had really wanted to. He paid more than it was worth to rent out a one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Metropolis and currently resided at 34 Wilcon Street. This was his life; this was who he was. Clark Kent was dead.

Clark Kent was… dead.

Dead.

For a moment, Joe was tempted to go back to the Missing Persons Department and ask to be reassigned. He knew they'd probably agree, because they liked to keep him happy, but he also knew it would raise suspicions. He'd never turned down a case in the last four years, since being assigned as a caseworker with the Department. They considered his methods of working unconventional. He had a reputation for taking on the cases everyone else turned down.

Without realising it consciously, Lois's disappearance all those many years ago – the years he refused to give thought to – had influenced his choice in line of work. He knew what it was like to go crazy with worry over a missing loved one, he knew what is was like trying to deal with Department officials who didn't seem to really care how desperate you were or how many nights you stayed awake thinking over every possible scenario, no matter how far-fetched. Another missing person was just another case number in a long line of them, no more special than the last.

Joe worked differently than his other co-workers. He was a contracted caseworker, so in his mind, while he worked with the Missing Persons Department, he didn't work for them. He usually got to pick which cases he'd take on, which worked well since he only ever worked on one case until there was a resolution of some sort. It helped the family and friends of the missing person feel as if they were being taken seriously and being looked after, to know there was someone dedicated wholly and fully to finding their missing son or missing daughter or missing mother or father or even a missing friend.

Earlier this morning though, the Head of the Department, David Turner, had called him at 7 o'clock and personally asked him to take on this case. Joe's only information had been that this case was "unique" and "special" and that it really needed someone of Joe's experience and dedication on it, so would he please do David this one favour and haul ass over to the Metropolis Medical Research Center? The request had not seemed too extraordinary to Joe as to cause any red flags to go up and he had agreed to the assignment. He'd never turned a case down in four years, so he hadn't wanted to start now.

As he stood in the hallway and sifted through the information, though, he began to wish he'd said no.

He swallowed and then squared his shoulders, resolute, and looked Nicole in the eyes. "I have to see her. Now," he said, firmly. He didn't like the hint of desperation in his own tone, but couldn't help it.

She nodded and without another word passing between them, they continued down the hallway. Joe's memories haunted him more deeply with every step he took towards Lois Lane.

.-.-.

It was mid-afternoon when Lois awoke again to silence, this time wary as she opened her eyes and gingerly tried to roll over onto her back. A sharp pain shot through her back and she winced. Slowly and carefully, she managed to finally get herself into a sitting position. Lois fully expected another army of nurses to come flying through the door, but it remained firmly closed. After a minute, she manoeuvred herself closer to the edge of the bed and swung her legs over the side, feeling the cold floor for the first time.

The blankets that had covered her were pushed away and she suddenly felt a chill run through her. Aside from the flimsy, white gown she was wearing, she was naked. It hadn't bothered her earlier, but now she had time to give it some thought, she started to feel angry that any number of people may have seen her naked by now.

Lois rubbed her shoulders with her hands as the cool air began to sear her skin. It was abnormally cold. Reaching down she dragged a thick blanket up and around her form, wrapping it tightly around her. She hoped this feeling of bleakness creeping in was just from the cold… surely she'd warm up soon.

Her limbs still felt weak and she was certain whatever they had injected her with was also the cause of her now persistent headache. Bastards. Taking a deep breath and leaning her hands against the edge of the bed, the blanket fell behind her as she slowly eased herself off the bed and into a standing position.

The door in front of her seemed to taunt her. If only she could get to it…

Her legs immediately started trembling and gave out under her. Her knees hit the floor with a thump and she quickly grabbed onto the edge of the bed with both hands to stop herself falling to the floor completely. Using all her strength, she pulled herself up onto the bed and back into a sitting position. Okay, standing bad, she concluded.

She looked around the room again. The plasma screen in the corner of the room was still flashing brightly, holographic scenes of what was probably a movie, now dancing across it. It was muted though, as no sound came from it. The door now seemed like a mile away.

A thought occurred to her: Surely someone was watching her, or would be able to hear her if she shouted?

"Hey!" she screamed as loud as she could. Her voice sounded scratchy, but she still managed a decent volume of sound. "I want to talk to someone!"

She waited and waited for what felt like at least an hour for a response, but none came. She screamed again and then waited some more. The room remained eerily silent and still. Finally, she conceded that maybe no one was going to come, at least not any time soon.

Left to her own thoughts of confusion, Lois began to shake slightly as an overwhelming sadness took grip on her. Before she could stop herself, tears had begun to flow and she clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the sounds of her sobs.

She had never felt so alone and scared in her life. Somehow she had come to the future, to a time when everything had changed so much that nothing was familiar. This world was strange and foreign to her. No one would be coming to her aid, to rescue her or to tell her this had all been a horrible dream. This was real. She was trapped in the year 2309.

How was she supposed to get out of this situation when she had no idea how she had gotten into it in the first place? When she was alone with no one to help her, no one to call or reply on?

Chloe is dead, she thought suddenly, as the reality caught up to her. Lucy is dead. Her father, Clark, Jimmy, Martha – they were all gone. All of them. Every single person she had ever known, ever met or ever talked to. Everybody she had ever loved. Dead. It was as if their names had just been erased from a blackboard. She was hopelessly, desperately alone.

Shaking as violently with sobs as she ever had, Lois lowered herself back onto the solid bed, curling up into the foetal position and clutching the blanket around her as if it was the only real thing left.

.-.-.

TBC


	4. Chapter Three

**300 Years of Solitude**

.-.-.

**Chapter Three**

_**Metropolis: July, 2309**_

As they neared a closed door marked 'Restricted Access: Authorized Personnel Only,' Joe began to again consider turning around and running as fast as he could in the other direction.

Nicole was in front of him when they stopped in front of the door and she pressed her thumb against small printing block and the door immediately clicked open. Joe followed her in.

They entered the room to be faced with a wall of solid glass, looking into another room that was white and brightly lit. A woman lay unconscious on a bed on the other side. Even if she had been awake, she would have been unaware she was being watched. Looking at the recorded image of her on the screen to his right, Joe could only stare as the camera closed in on her sleeping face.

He put the thick case file down on the table and leaned in closer to the image of her face.

The woman was wearing a standard hospital gown, with the covers pulled up to her chin, and she looked pale and her hair was a mess. But there was no mistaking it. This woman looked exactly like Lois Lane he remembered from so long ago. "Lois," he whispered to himself, lips barely moving. It had been so long since he had said that name out loud, but it felt surprisingly familiar.

He felt entranced, gazing at her, quietly wondering if this could possibly be real. After what felt like minutes, Joe tore his gaze away reluctantly and turned to look at Nicole who had obviously been watching him closely. She had always studied him carefully when they were together, trying to memorize the slightest hints of the thoughts behind his normally stoic exterior. He straightened himself again, realizing that he'd let his guard down momentarily lost in thought and memories. He smiled slightly and leaned back, attempting to conceal his uneasiness.

It seemed as if Nicole was about to say something but then had thought better of it, as she shook her head before saying, "I guess I'll leave you alone so you can study her case file a bit more." She squeezed his arm lightly as she gazed up at him with a curious expression on her face.

Relieved, Joe gave his thanks and watched her leave the room without another word.

Joe watched Lois sleeping for what felt like hours. A tiny part of him felt relieved that she wasn't awake yet, because it would delay the inevitable.

Sooner or later, he was going to have to talk to her. He knew that was a certainty. He was fairly sure she would not recognise him; he looked quite different physically than the man she had once known. He didn't know why she was here or what it meant, and until he knew those things, he couldn't risk revealing too much to her. But fear and doubt nagged at him. The idea that this was dangerous territory he was entering was at the forefront of his mind.

Finally he tore his gaze from Lois and picked up the case file, deciding to study the accompanying notes further. He delved concentration completely into the file, reading document after document. He made a note to himself to go back to the department and view the robo-cam footage of Lois's collapse on Eddy Avenue later.

His concentration was broken when the holo-screen flashed briefly and a loud beep sounded. Turning, he watched as Lois murmured in her sleep. She was regaining consciousness.

He watched as she struggled to stand, before righting herself back on the bed. She screamed a second later, demanding to talk to someone. Joe glanced at the entrance to her room through the window, wondering briefly if Nicole or any of the other medical researchers would burst in and try to calm Lois, but it remained firmly shut.

Moments passed and he simply watched from the behind the glass barrier as she broke down into pieces. There had been a time long ago when he never would have stood in the shadows and watched such distress without leaping in to try and help.

A part of him wanted to immediately race in to see her, to speak to her, to answer her call for contact, but he couldn't quite bring himself to move. He continued to watch as the scene unfolded, he could feel something gnawing away at him in his gut with each passing moment.

Lois seemed to cave in on herself, as her face became red and wet with tears. She curled up on the bed and sobbed, as he had never seen her cry before. It was this sight, more than anything else that chipped away at his protective armour.

Lois was so clearly terrified it ate away at him, and for the first time in a long time, he felt a small ache in his heart. He wondered what thoughts had been going through her mind. Gazing at her sobbing form, she looked so fragile and small and… lost. He felt the overwhelming urge to rush in and reveal himself to her. He hadn't felt the urge to reclaim his past in over three hundred years and one look at her and he was ready to tell her that he was there for her.

Instead he bit his lip and stood, still gazing at her.

She finally stopped sobbing, but didn't sleep, staring at the door, probably wishing that someone would volunteer to give her some answers or even a small slice of hope in what must have felt like a hopeless situation.

Joseph Martin contemplated the gravity of the choice that lay before him. He knew it would probably be a mistake to proceed with this assignment, but he was sure that it would be an even grater mistake to walk away.

His life had brought him more than his fair share of guilt, pain and loss. He had enough regrets that he lived with every day already and the idea that he would have to take on yet another regret if he turned and ran was unbearable. If he walked away from Lois now, how far would he be from the man his father had hoped for him to become? No, he would not give up on Lois. Not this time.

He weighed the risk in his head though. This was Lois Lane, if she caught one whiff of the mystery and smokescreen surrounding him, his cover would be blown. Could he risk that? There was really no choice.

Finally, he tore his gaze from Lois and picked up the case file, deciding to take it with him, exiting and striding down the hallway purposefully. Joe rounded the corner and found the entrance to her room, pressing his thumb against the security panel. He had been granted top-level access within the Medical Research Center earlier in the morning when he had been assigned to the case. This was it, the moment of truth, whether he could face her or not.

The door slid open and Lois immediately sat up, alert. Pale, looking worn and cautious, she watched him for a moment. Joe stood in the doorway, immobile as he stared back at her. He suddenly found himself nervous and terrified looking into her hazel eyes, realizing they were staring back at him. She blinked and opened her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it.

He took a breath and said, "Hello, Miss Lane."

.-.-.

Lois stared at the stranger. She gazed into his eyes and suddenly felt a stirring in her stomach. She tried to dislodge the feeling that this man was somehow, in some way, familiar to her. She knew logically that wasn't possible.

Clark's face immediately sprung up into her mind, his broad boyish smile flashing past. So what if this man's eyes slightly reminded her of Clark? Shaking her head, she told herself she was being ridiculous. Her mind was playing tricks on her again and it was time to face the truth. Clark Kent was dead.

And the reality was that this man really didn't look like Clark, exactly. Dressed in grey and black, the man was tall and rugged. He had long black hair and the lower half of his face was covered in a thick beard. He looked older, she guessed about thirty. Somehow, instinctively, Lois knew this man was an oddity. In an environment that was sterile and white, he stood in stark contrast to his current surroundings.

Lois suddenly remembered that she was naked under her thin gown and hastily pulled the blanket around her.

The man stepped into the room and the door slid shut automatically behind him. "I'm Joseph Martin," he said, standing before her and offering his hand.

She eyed him cautiously, but shook his hand firmly. "I take it you already know my name."

He nodded and stepped back, then pulled a chair from the corner closer to her bedside and sat down. She noticed that while he edged closer, he seemed to be careful not to get too close.

She scrutinized him and asked, "So, are you the guy who's going to tell me I'm crazy and lock me up in a padded room?"

Joe shook his head. "No. Miss Lane, I'm here to help you."

"Who are you?" she asked. He obviously wasn't a nurse.

"I'm a caseworker from the Missing Persons Unit at the Metropolis Police Department. I've been assigned to your case." Joe was glad that so far at least he could, for the most part, tell her the truth.

She looked quizzical. "My case? Missing person? The only thing that's missing is the year 2009! What exactly is going on? Because I still have no idea where I am exactly and no one has been keen to give me any answers. I want some answers."

"You are currently in the Medical Research Centre." He gestured at the surroundings.

"I don't like the sound of that," she said.

The edges of his lips twitched. "You're safe here."

"That's what the other guy said, but I am yet to have a meal or a bathroom break and that red-headed witch forcibly sedated me once already." Her experience so far hadn't endeared her to this time and place at all.

Joe's face darkened. Forcibly sedated? Joe clenched his jaw at the thought of what Nicole had done to Lois. He would have a word with Nicole later. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to stop that." He scanned her quickly and noticed the bruises on her wrists where she'd been restrained. "Are you okay now though?"

Lois shook her head. "I want answers," she repeated, determined not to let him sidetrack her.

"Everyone around here is confused, Miss Lane." Joe broke her gaze and looked down at the holo-file, giving it a quick tap and a new image flicked past. "Our records indicate you went missing and were declared dead almost three hundred years ago."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so I was told. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. It's not like I took a ride in a Delorean."

"Delorean?" he asked, looking up again.

"A movie reference. One I used to watch at least once a year with—" Lois stopped herself. "Never mind, it's not important."

"Miss Lane," Joe began, "can you tell me what you remember?"

.-.-.

TBC


	5. Chapter Four

Hi all,

I firstly want to thank everyone who has left feedback for this fic, no matter how long ago. I tried getting back to each and every one personally, but I know after the last chapter was posted I failed a bit in that regard. I apologise and I do intend to do my best to respond back to all reviews. Your feedback means the world to me, once again I can only say thank you.

It may well be this fic has been long forgotten by readers, but you never know. I know as a reader myself, it can be frustrating and disappointing when fics are left unfinished. It was never my intention for this to be one of the many unfinished fics, and I am still determined to finish it.

That's why I wanted to drop in and let you know where I am at with this fic, as I have surely not forgotten about it myself. I do apologise for the long wait (a year, more?) between my last update and now. I have several more chapters drafted and have had them drafted for a while, but I got hit by a severe case of writer's block and whenever I opened this fic to work on it, to try to update or edit, I would be stuck.

I just had no motivation, despite a big part of me desperately wanting to write and finish it. When I first started this story long ago, I was on a good roll and everything flowed perfectly. But at a certain point in time I went through a personal issue and it seems like around then was when my creativity and writing for this story ceased and it's never been the same.

All of this rambling aside, I am determined to get back to this story. It's in the back of my mind constantly, so I wanted to tell readers that I will be posting more. Right now I'm working on a separate Clois fic and also in the process of editing the drafted chapters I've written of this fic, so I can continue to update.

Thank you all who have stuck by this story, or any new readers who decide to have faith and start reading, or any old readers who return. I really do appreciate it and I appreciate all the encouragement and feedback.

A new chapter is below. I hope you enjoy! And yes, there is MORE to come!

.-.-.

.-.-.

**300 Years of Solitude**

.-.-.

**Chapter Four**

_**Metropolis: July, 2309**_

Lois hesitated. What was this man's agenda? Joseph Martin claimed to work for the Missing Persons Unit, but what did that mean? So far she had felt a bit like a prisoner, a bit like an artefact certain people probably couldn't wait to study, and a bit like a basket case. She wasn't sure if she should trust him, if he was really here to help her or not. Instinctually she felt as though he was trustworthy, and logically she didn't think she had much of a choice but to take a chance and hope. She needed to convince someone to help her find a way out of this place, this time, this world. She hadn't been here long, but she knew it was wrong. She didn't feel like she belonged here at all.

"No," she said firmly, "how about you tell me what _you_ know?"

Joe blinked. He hadn't expected that response. "Miss Lane, I—"

"And don't tell me you don't know anything!" she warned angrily. "How did I get here?"

"I don't know—"

"What happened to my family? My… my friends?"

"I don't—"

Her temper had risen. "You don't know? You don't know much then, do you? Isn't it your job to help me? To have the answers?"

"Yes, but that won't happen in a day. These investigations take time."

"And in the meantime, what do I do? Sit here locked up in this room and twiddle my thumbs?" Lois was becoming angrier and more agitated. "I want to get out! I want answers!"

"And we'll find them," he tried to soothe calmly.

Lois took a breath to get her emotions back into check. She would NOT break down again. "I'm not used to sitting around waiting for someone else to do the investigating," she admitted, "When I want answers, I find them myself. I'm an investigative reporter for the Daily Planet."

"I know," Joe said softly. At her enquiring look, he elaborated, "The information is in your case file, Miss Lane. There's not much about you that wouldn't be in the file."

"So, I guess that means you think you know me?" she asked sharply.

He shook his head. "I would never presume such a thing."

She paused, studying him. He seemed earnest and genuine in his word. Deep down in the pit of her stomach, the feeling stirred again that in some other lifetime she had known this man. She sighed, cursing at herself. She was losing it again. Maybe it was the drugs making her feelings all wobbly.

"Okay," she relented, "I'll tell you what I know."

He leaned forward slightly, listening intently.

"It's all a bit fuzzy," she warned. "Whatever drugs those jerks pumped me with earlier are making things a little jumbled."

"It's okay, whatever you can tell me."

She looked towards the ceiling, trying to conjure up as much detail in her mind as possible as she talked. "I remember getting into a fight with Tess… Tess Mercer—"

"Yes, I've read all the reports pertaining to your case. She gave a statement to police at the time, but she didn't mention anything about a fight."

"What? That _bitch_!" Lois burst out suddenly.

"Miss Lane…"

"Sorry. So, we got into a fight and some things got knocked about and I saw this ring. I picked it up and—"

"Ring?" he interrupted suddenly, stilling. Surely she didn't mean the Legion ring? "What did it look like?"

If it was the Legion ring, this was a startling revelation.

Rokk had assured him that if the missing Legion ring had had anything to do with Lois's disappearance, she would have been sent to the year 3009 as the ring he had been given to help defeat Doomsday the first time had been pre-programmed to transport only to the year 3009. If Lois showed up, the Legion would of course arrange for her to be sent straight back to 2009. He knew Rokk had been vigilant in his search and confirmation that Lois was nowhere to be found and had to therefore conclude that it couldn't have been a factor in her sudden disappearance.

Joe's next theory was that she had somehow become trapped and buried under piles of rubble when Metropolis was torn to shreds as he and Doomsday had fought in the streets. Her body was never recovered. Joe had also considered a million other possibilities to explain her disappearance; some plausible and some so unlikely he only entertained the thoughts as a way to hold onto a shred of hope.

Now, it seemed, he had dismissed the possibility of the Legion ring being involved far too quickly.

So many pieces of a puzzle never solved suddenly fell into place. Lois Lane had gone missing three hundred years ago and mystery had forever surrounded her disappearance. There had been a high-scale investigation into her disappearance, but there had been no real, solid clues. She was finally declared deceased early the following year. Joe had refused to give up and had continued his own personal search, determined to find her. Finally though, after almost fifty years of searching, he had to admit defeat. She had been gone so long by then, it had felt like a lifetime, and his ray hope had finally distinguished, he had none left.

In discovering that Lois had travelled here using the Legion ring, Joe realised what must have happened. Somehow, Lois had ended up here in the year 2309. The ring had obviously malfunctioned, which seemed suspicious to Joe, as he had never known a Legion ring to ever do such a thing.

Lois, oblivious to his chaotic thoughts, shrugged. "I honestly don't remember much about what it looked like, I know it was gold. I only saw it for a second." She paused, wondering how to voice her next thought. It was a crazy idea, she knew, but then again this was about the craziest situation she had ever managed to find herself in. The only explanation Lois could come up with was… "Do you… do you believe that time travel is possible?"

Joe blinked, then straightened and cleared his throat. "There is no technology that would make time travel a possibility."

Lois shook her head. "I didn't ask if the technology existed for time travel, I asked if you _believed_ it was possible. Because I have thought about this, and I know it sounds crazy, but it's the only explanation I can come up with."

Joe began to feel panic build. This conversation was getting out of hand. Lois knew far too much, she was more right than she could imagine. How had she figured it out so quickly? Of course, how could she not put the pieces together? This was Lois Lane. He had almost forgotten just how good she was… almost.

"Miss Lane," he began, trying to avoid getting into further details, "I know how confusing this must be, but we can't jump to any conclusions right now. There is still a lot we don't know. Give me some time to do some research."

"Okay," she agreed, deciding to let that thread go for the moment. After a few moments of silence, Lois broached the other subject weighing on her mind. "My family and friends… you really don't know what happened to any of them? Isn't there any information in my case file?"

"There are mentions of them," he said with a slight nod, "but only in relation to your own personal file and your missing person's case. There aren't any details about them individually."

"But… but surely you could find out?"

Joe hesitated. He knew exactly what had happened to them. He knew because he had outlived them all by over two hundred years. Some of them had died young, too young, and until Lois Lane had shown up he had deliberately not thought of Jimmy Olsen's passing because the guilt he carried tore him up. How could he possibly tell her about each of them, inflicting more and more pain on her with each story? They all ended the same way: death. No, he would spare her that torture for as long as possible, he would continue to carry the burden of pain alone. He would lie for as long as he could.

"I don't have the authorization."

Her face fell and she looked down. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," he said, faltering.

She looked up and her eyes were glistening with moisture. "I don't want to stay here."

"I don't have the authorization to action your release at this stage I'm afraid."

Laughing tiredly, Lois felt suddenly as if she had aged about a hundred years in the past day. "You're really not very efficient, are you, Joseph Martin? You can't give me any answers, you can't tell me what happened to my family and you can't do anything to get me out of this place."

He sighed. "I will come back tomorrow, okay? I'll have been able to do some research by then, so I may have some more information that we can discuss."

"Great, my hero," she quipped sarcastically.

.-.-.

TBC


	6. Chapter Five

**300 Years of Solitude**

.-.-.

**Chapter Five**

_**Metropolis: July, 2309**_

Rewinding the tape again with a tap on his holographic keyboard, Joe replayed the footage pertaining to Lois's appearance yesterday afternoon. Eddy Avenue was always a busy, bustling street in Metropolis, and with so many people around, Lois was obscured throughout the footage.

He tapped another key and the large screen before him zoomed in as the footage relayed Lois collapsing. With another tap, the screen paused and Joe took a breath and folded his arms behind his head, leaning back in his office chair.

The sleeves of his pale grey dress shirt were rolled up above his elbows, his dark grey tie was loose around his neck and the top buttons were undone. He ran a hand through his long hair.

He had watched the footage at least twenty times already and still was not entirely sure it gave him any real clues. At 3:29:12 p.m. Lois Lane could be first identified to be standing on Eddy Avenue near the intersection of Reservoir Street. Joe wasn't certain if she had suddenly appeared at that time, or if it was simply that prior to positive identification in the length of footage, the surrounding sea of people had obscured her from the security robo-camera's vision. After looking around, wide-eyed, for about ten minutes, Lois had finally fainted, supposedly from shock, at 3:41:54 p.m.

Her clothes were strange in comparison to the ones everyone else on the screen was wearing. Styles had come and gone in various cycles through the years, but it had become rare to see people dress in bright colours. The palette of colours clothes came in these days usually consisted of black, white, grey and light or dark shades, particularly brown, green and blue. Dull shades, in other words.

Shaking his head free from further ridiculous thoughts, he returned his attention to the footage. There must be another clue here, he thought vehemently. There just _had_ to be.

Leaning towards the screen again, he tapped the play button on his keyboard. Zooming even further in towards Lois, Joe paused the tape again a moment after Lois had fainted. He concentrated on a small object that lay on the cold concrete beside Lois's crumpled form. Next to her head lay a ring with an L written on it.

Joe had not seen such a ring for over a hundred years, but he immediately recognized it from the far recess of his memory. It was a Legion ring. This confirmed his suspicions.

He re-watched the footage of her collapse on Eddy Avenue again several times over and discovered that just prior to an ambulance arriving on the scene, a tall man in a dark coat had paused near her head, bent and picked up the ring and scurried off out of the robo-camera's view. Unless one had known there was a ring there beside her head on the ground, it wasn't immediately obvious that this stranger had done anything other than bend down for a moment before continuing on.

Pausing the footage again, Joe leaned back and tried to imagine what this new fact could mean. The Legion ring was out there somewhere.

Joe was then posed with a difficult decision. Should he inform the Department of his finding or not?

If Joe informed the Department that a mysterious ring was involved with Lois's sudden appearance, and the ring was recovered, it was debatable as to if it would end up in safe hands within the Department. And if the strange man who picked up the ring knew what it did or how to fix it and use it, that could be disastrous. It would actually be useful to have as many personnel involved in the manhunt as possible.

The Legion ring could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. He knew the rings were either pre-programmed to transport someone to a specific date and point in time or they were controlled by thought of where and when to transport to. If this ring had been pre-programmed as thought, it was unlikely it would work again unless someone else had the technology or knowledge of how to reset the programming. That was still many years away.

Joe finally decided to keep this information to himself for as long as possible. He hoped that maybe he could track down the ring before anyone else. He knew that sooner or later someone else within the Department was bound to watch the footage and make a similar connection, but he would keep his fingers crossed that it would be at least a week before that happened, which would give him plenty of a head start.

Reaching for Lois Lane's case file, Joe settled in for a long night in the office.

.-.-.

Lois looked at the tray of food before her. She was so hungry by now that she would have eaten just about anything, but this... well... this food looked horrible. Typical hospital food, she reasoned.

It was a plate of what could be mashed vegetables and some sort of... meat? She warily shoved her fork into a chunk of the food and raised it to her mouth, fearing the worst. A second later, she spat it out. Gross. She shook her head; there was no way she would eat that.

She took a sip of the drink and was relieved that it really was just water. Finishing that off, she pushed the tray away. Luckily no one had tried to sedate her again, for which she was grateful. Her strength had also seemed to have returned almost to normal and she felt confident she could now put up a decent fight if need be.

The lights had been dimmed and it was late by now, a digital clock on the wall flashed 21:24. She looked towards the door again, finalising her plan for escape in her mind. It was a slim chance, she knew, but it was worth a try.

Joseph Martin, who was supposed to be the one person assigned to help her, from their brief encounter, seemed extremely inept. She doubted he would be any real help to her at all.

There was no way Lois was going to stay here, locked up like she was a crazy prisoner or worse, a lab rat. Her survival instincts compelled her to do everything she could to escape. She hated hospitals, she hated being locked up in small spaces, she hated this damned food they gave her.

She knew the door to her room was locked; she had tested it a few times before giving up. The only window was the small one in the door, but it was frosted glass she couldn't see through.

About an hour ago she had requested her first bathroom break. Why the room didn't have a bathroom attached to it, Lois didn't know, but this fact actually worked to her advantage. The red-haired woman had escorted her there and back, and Lois had used the opportunity to take in as much detail of the layout of the hallways as possible. She had only been exposed to a small part of the entire Medical Research Centre, but it was better than trying to escape blind. Fortunately she had been able to catch snippets of conversation as she was walked passed the reception area and knew there was supposed to be a shift change taking place at 22:00. If this was true, it would give Lois a chance and work to her advantage.

Lois patiently waited until the clock ticked over to 22:01 before making her move.

"Hey," she screamed in the loudest voice she could muster, "I need another toilet break!"

A few minutes later, a fair-haired man with bright green eyes, in white scrubs appeared in the doorway. This was a guy she hadn't seen yet, which was perfect. Hopefully the other nurses had gone home for the night.

"I need to use the bathroom," she repeated, standing up and moving towards the door.

The new guy looked nervous. "You only had a break a couple of hours ago," he said, as if this fact meant that she shouldn't possibly need to go to the bathroom again so soon.

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "it must be the food. It didn't sit well with me, it seems." She rubbed her stomach and grimaced for emphasis.

The guy looked sceptical, eyeing her tray of hardly eaten food on the table beside her bed. "I see," he replied steadily, before looking at her again. She certainly did look a little pale, he reasoned. "Well, okay," he relented finally, indicating that she should follow him out.

Navigating the dim hallway towards the bathrooms, Lois was made to walk ahead as the man followed. Lois was happy not to have seen anyone else about so far. The place had been far more populated earlier, so it seemed it had been a good guess that not many people would stick around for the night shift.

As they reached the bathroom, Lois swung around suddenly to face the guy and socked him squarely in the face. Stunned, he stumbled backwards, but wasn't knocked to the ground. His nose now bleeding, the man tried to react, but Lois having the advantage of surprise, grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed him into the wall. He fell unconscious to the floor. That was almost too easy, she thought, breathing hard.

Lois glanced around quickly to check no one else had come running. When she saw no movement, she bent down to grab the unconscious man under his arms and heaved him towards and through the bathroom door, then dragged him into a corner. Standing over his still form, she crouched down and began to remove his scrubs and his shoes. She sent a silent apology his way, then stepped away and took off her gown and dressed in his baggy scrubs and too-big shoes. Everything was far too loose on her, but it would have to do.

Edging the door open, she peeked out. The hallway was still dim and quiet. Creeping out into the hallway, she made her way towards an area that would hopefully lead to an exit. Nearing a corner, she stopped and crouched down, looking around slightly.

The reception area was just ahead and about three people all dressed in the standard scrubs all stood around, talking quietly. She didn't recognise any of them and the red-haired witch was nowhere in sight, which relieved Lois greatly. She took notes in her head about them: Two women, one of whom was fairly large, and a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties. None of them looked particularly fit or strong, although three against one could still be dangerous. Feeling her adrenaline pulsing through her, Lois was certain in her assessment that she could take them all.

It was now or never, she thought, before charging out towards them. They all seemed stunned to see her coming at them and were caught off guard. The combat and military training she had endured growing up seemed to kick in and she robotically tackled each individual methodically. The large woman reached for a phone, as if to alert security as Lois took on the man. Noticing, Lois quickly elbowed the man hard in the stomach area, which sent him to the ground, and grabbed the woman's arm. It felt like a blur of chaotic movement and Lois suffered a few blows herself, but in the end all three individuals lay unconscious where they had fallen.

Lois took a deep breath of relief, before moving on quickly. She rounded another corner and sped down another hallway. It was hard to know if she was going in the right direction as every hallway looked the same in the dim light. She prayed she was heading towards an exit and saw a sign over an entrance that read, 'Clone Research Wing'. She paused; hesitating for a moment, then looked back and saw another pathway she could take. Which way should she go? She ran a hand through her greasy hair, thinking hard. She shook her head in defeat, she didn't know, she would have to take a chance and hope fate would be on her side. Making her decision, she backtracked away from the 'Clone Research Wing' and headed around the other corner. Another sign above an upcoming doorway read, 'Lobby and Common Area,' and Lois felt a rush of joy.

Minutes later she found herself in a large open space and what must have been the main entrance of the centre. It was huge; the exit was still at least ten feet away.

Immediately noticing her, two security guards who stood near the exit, pulled their guns and stepped towards her. Lois froze. The exit was now in her sight, seemingly so close. She thought of continuing her escape effort, but eyeing the guns pointed in her direction, thought better and remained still.

"Put your arms in the air," one of the security guards commanded, inching closer.

She hesitated, appraising the situation. The security guard was young and scrawny with short ginger hair and he looked nervous as he closed in inch by inch. She wondered if he'd ever even raised his gun at anyone before. The other guy stood slightly in the background; he was older with dark brown hair and looked far more menacing. Lois doubted the second guy would hesitate to shoot, even if the first one did.

When the young guard waved his gun at her, Lois finally conceded defeat and raised her arms above her head. Nobody spoke, but she could see the guards relax their stance slightly at her apparent surrender. This is it; Lois thought miserably, I'll never get out of here.

Suddenly a loud voice pierced the silence. A big, burly woman had rushed into the scene, noting straight away that two guns were aimed at Lois. "No, don't shoot," she warned, placing herself between the security guards and Lois. Lois recognised the woman, whom she was sure she'd knocked out earlier.

Lois took advantage of the momentary confusion and tackled the younger guard, managing to wrestle the gun from him and get him into a choke hold. She held one of his arms firmly behind his back and pressed the tip of the gun against his throat, using him as a shield.

"Can I shoot her now?" the other guard asked, scowling in Lois's direction.

Everything had happened so fast that the older guard hadn't even managed a shot. He trained his gun in her direction again. Lois thought he looked even more menacing up close.

"No!" the woman yelled, clearly panicked. "They want her alive."

Lois had no idea who 'they' were, but it obviously worked to her advantage that the guard wasn't allowed to shoot her, although she noticed he seemed quite disappointed.

"Okay, here's the deal," Lois said, doing her best to sound calm and in control. "Don't take another step. And you," she jerked her head at the other guard, "put your gun down and kick it over to me."

The brown-haired guard glanced at the large woman out of the corner of his eye, who nodded reluctantly. He pierced his gaze once more at Lois, and she gave him a thin smile and pressed her finger against the trigger. "I will shoot if I have to," she affirmed in a hard tone. She did not want to hurt anyone too much, but if she needed to use force, she knew she could at least do enough damage without it being lethal to immobilise them.

The security guard in her firm grip squirmed and swallowed hard, shaking slightly. He was terrified. Finally, the other guard lowered his gun with a disgusted sigh of defeat and placed his gun on the floor, kicking it lightly to slide over in Lois's direction.

The gun came to rest near Lois's feet. She manoeuvred her grip on her hostage so she could hold the gun in the other hand while still maintaining the choke hold, although awkwardly, and bent slowly to pick up the other gun. Never taking her eyes from the people in front of her, she stood up again, now in possession of both weapons.

The big woman looked angry, but no one dared to move. It was unclear as to how stable Lois was, or what frame of mind she was in. Her threats did not sound hollow.

Lois backed up slowly, dragging the hostage with her. When she was close enough to the exit, she realised the door was secured with finger scanning. "Open the door," she demanded as she emphasized her point by pressing the gun harder against the younger guard's temple. Hastily, he complied and held his thumb against the finger print scanner.

Once the doors slid open, Lois threw the ginger-haired guard to the ground and took off into the darkness of the Metropolis night. She didn't look back.

She fled down the street and barely looked at what was in front of her. She had only one focus, and that was to get away from the sedation, the straps, the indecipherable food and the feeling that she was about to become a lab rat if she stayed any longer. Lois dumped the guns in a trash can as she passed. She had no idea if they had tracking devices on them and she didn't want any evidence to follow her.

Lois ran and ran, the sounds of an alarm and approaching sirens fading as she put as much distance between herself and the Medical Research Centre as possible. She ran blindly down the unfamiliar streets, ignoring the strange looks people cast her as she raced past, trying not to knock anyone over as she bumped through the crowd. The city was still bustling with people, despite the late hour.

Her only focus was running and she'd been sprinting for the last five minutes and was starting to feel her adrenaline giving way to the stress her body had endured. After a few minutes it seemed the crowd had thinned and the area seemed less alive.

The sound of footsteps closing in on her made her glance back. In the darkness she could just make out the shape of a man in the shadows slowly moving directly towards her. Panicking, Lois turned a corner. Rows of restaurants were ahead and Lois headed for them. The man could catch up any minute. Without a second thought, Lois swerved left into the back alleyway of one of the restaurants. There were no lights here.

She raced forward and slammed straight into something blocking her way, stumbling backwards and falling down. Horrified, Lois looked up and was stunned to see a large figure looming over her. Terror coursed through her.

The man took a step forward and as he passed through the shadows, his face was slowly revealed as he closed in on her. He stood over her, looking down at her with a grim expression and crossed his arms. Lois instantly recognised him.

Standing before her was Joseph Martin and he looked pissed.

.-.-.

TBC


End file.
